1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to warning light systems and in particular light modules for installation on vehicles, especially emergency and other public service vehicles. In particular, the invention relates to light modules and light bars employing light pipes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Emergency lighting which is mounted on police or other public service vehicles has been known in the prior art. Generally, such lighting is mounted on the exterior of the vehicle in order to provide the most visibility. For example, warning lights are frequently mounted on the roof of an emergency vehicle so that the lighting is readily apparent from a distance and is generally above the roof line of most vehicles travelling on a roadway. Exterior mounting also minimizes the possibility that the light produced by the lighting system will adversely affect the vision of someone in the emergency vehicle.
Light bars are generally the most desirable type of emergency exterior lighting because of their ability to provide a wide variety of types of illumination, because of the ease of installation, because such light bars avoid the need for vehicle modifications, and finally because of the ease of attaching and detaching such light bars. The light bar is generally a unit which spans the top of the vehicle and is supported by the vehicle by brackets which are attached to the vehicle. However, such prior art light bars generally employ multiple modules each having a lamp which can be difficult to implement and expensive to manufacture and repair. More importantly, prior art light bars, by design, have height dimensions that make the vehicles equipped with them easily identified.
There is a need for a light bar and light modules which employ light pipes used to provide visible light to the modules such that the design height is substantially reduced making them less noticeable when not operating and so that the number of light sources may be reduced. In addition, there is a need for light modules which employ light pipes and which use substantially all light supplied by the light pipes to form beams or emergency signals.